I know as American cycling fans we've all been taught by the Johan and Lance era that having the strongest team possible focused on only one rider is the only way to win a stage race. In fact, many of you reading this right now probably argued that the reason you thought Lance could take down Contador at the 2010 Tour de France was because Lance's team was stacked and Contador's was not (well, that's not entirely true, they just weren't people most American's were familiar with). In 2009 I argued that the lack of cooperation from Lance and co. on Astana would do absolutely nothing to hurt Contador's chances at winning that year's TdF. The reason? Because while having a team around you is nice, if you're the best guy there, it doesn't really matter. Ok, so where's my proof? I think we only have to look back to the recently concluded 2010 Tour of Utah.
Levi rolls up to the race solo with no teammates and wins. I guess it could be argued that the Trek/Livestrong team would certainly be there to help out if needed, but in the stages that ended on mountains, none of those kids were around long enough to really be considered helpful teammates. Especially not in the Floyd with Lance in 2003 or Novarro with Contador in 2010.
In every interview Levi insisted that he wasn't there to win the race, that he only came for training, and hopefully a stage win. I don't know about anybody else, but I found this to be almost insulting to everyone else there. It's one thing to be humble, but everybody pinning on a number knew who the best guy was. All you had to do was look around and see how many other guys starting that race had return flights from Paris back at the end of July. (Sure, Hincapie and Bookwalter both raced the TdF, but neither were an overall threat there, nor in Utah.) Levi continued to say that he had no teammates and it'd be hard to control the race, but again, when you're the best guy there, especially by the leaps and bounds that he was (or Contador has been in his other 2 TdF victories), having teammates is simply a luxury. My biggest concern would be who's going to go fetch me a bottle?
The racing went pretty predictably as I thought it would. Levi doesn't lose much time in the prologue but the guys that beat him aren't threats. He wins an early big mountain day and gets a cushion. He rides a solid TT which he retains his lead. Marks the guys that are threats throughout the following stages and if he feels good on the queen stage, attack and see what happens, if you don't feel good, follow wheels and collect another domestic stage race overall win. And, that's exactly how it happened. The one scenario that throws my prediction and feeling about the supremacy of teamwork off, he flats and is forced to wait on a neutral wheel instead of having a teammate hand you theirs.
More than confirming, at least for me, my thoughts on how teamwork is sort of overrated, or at least grossly under utilized, especially in these scenarios where one guy is clearly better, is that the Tour of Utah made it really obvious just how wide the gap is between top domestic talent and the guys racing in Europe. Levi seemed to win this race by opposing is will on everyone else. At the Tour de France, he to took a beating daily. He was never close to finishing in the lead group in the big mountains and his time trial was just ok. But, when Levi comes to the Gila or to Utah all the domestic guys must be at least a little pissed. Prize money, which is arguably a lot more valuable to them than to him, is literally going up the road in a Mellow Johnny's kit. Chris Horner at the 2009 Gila remarked that "You're a pro, I'm a pro, this is a pro race," when he was asked if they should feel bad for coming and beating up on these guys. While I certainly see where he's coming from, I also sort of feel like it's the same as when my high school Varsity baseball team had to scrimmage the JV and our coach told us with absolute seriousness, "If they score, you guys lose." If Levi doesn't win when he goes to Utah, teammates or not, it'd throw up some kind of red flag to me. I don't know exactly what kind of red flag, but the final outcome just seemed so obvious as soon as he announced he was racing. The level in Europe is just so much faster than most of our top domestic pros and the level between them to your local 1,2 hero, also great. Cycling's funny that way.
Basically, I have one simple point to make that I think the Tour of Utah helped solidify, at least to me. The overall value of teammates, when it comes to racing strategy, ie., pulling back breaks, chasing down attacks, etc., has been over hyped to most of us. Whether it's Levi pulling that guy back or his teammate, his legs still have to do the work to make up that distance. Sure there's the aid of the draft, but when you're climbing, even at their speeds, the draft is so minimal that it's not the same aid as it is cruising at 30mph through some valley. If you're that much better than everybody else at the race, you're going to win, and I think that's what people should keep in mind. Nobody's bringing a squad to the Tour de France made of local cat 2s because they like the way the guys look in the kit. Everybody, except maybe some of the French squads, are bringing the best guys they have available, and in most cases, a mediocre climber (Remember, Levi wasn't even the best guy on Radio Shack in Paris. He consistently finished in a group behind Horner.) in that group would be finishing in the front group at Utah. So even if your TdF squad isn't stacked with previous podium winners, they're still a solid bunch and it's still going to come down to which team leader is better. And, in my opinion, that's what makes bike racing great. Most of the time, the best guy wins.
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